Alcohol expectancies and drinking characteristics in parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity...

Alcohol expectancies, drinking characteristics, and their association were examined in 587 adults: 431 parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 156 parents of children without ADHD. In addition to examining both traditional and parenting-specific alcohol expectancies for these adults, risk variables cutting across the two groups were considered: single parenthood and male gender. Few differences in mean expectancy levels were found between parents of children with and without ADHD, between single and married mothers, and between men and women. Furthermore, expectancies did not predict drinking differently across groups. However, there was some support for the utility of assessing parental expectations of alcohol's effects on interactions with children, and there were robust and interesting effects of socioeconomic status on expectancies and drinking. Single mothers also reported consuming higher quantities of alcohol than married mothers. Findings are discussed in terms of the link between ADHD and alcoholism, the ability of alcohol expectancies to explain drinking differences between high risk groups, the effect of socioeconomic status on these variables, and single motherhood as a vulnerability factor for increased drinking.